In Wisconsin, Obama orders review of job training programs

WAUKESHA, Wis. — President Barack Obama turned his focus here Thursday to efforts to improve job training programs nationwide, as he continued his efforts to show he is doing what he can on economic issues without Congress’s help.

The president’s stop here kicked off the second day of his post-State of the Union tour meant to continue the momentum of Tuesday’s speech, which focused heavily on executive actions.

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Obama reiterated his desire to work with Congress but said he’s willing to act “with or without” legislation. “I want to work with ’em, but I can’t wait for them,” he said on the floor of a General Electric plant here, just outside Milwaukee.

The president then signed a memorandum directing Vice President Joe Biden to lead a “soup to nuts” review of job training programs with the goal of making the system better serve the demands of employers.

With the economy shored up from the depths of his early presidency, Obama said, he’s now turning his focus to efforts to expand opportunity for all Americans, which will be a priority “until I wave goodbye” when leaving office.

In a letter sent to the president on Thursday, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) argues that the House GOP has already passed legislation, the SKILLS Act, that includes a similar overhaul of job training programs and that the president’s executive action is duplicative of a 2011 Government Accountability Office review of federal job training programs.

White House press secretary Jay Carney didn’t comment on the GAO report but did say that the president’s decision to have Biden lead a review means that it will be done “and it will be effective and that’s what the president expects.”

Obama heads next to the McGavock Comprehensive High School in Nashville, Tenn. Before he leaves Waukesha, Obama will sit with CNN’s Jake Tapper for his first interview since Tuesday’s address to the nation.

The president highlighted the benefits of vocational training, joking that it might serve young adults better than a degree in art history.

“A lot of young people no longer see the trades and skilled manufacturing as a viable career, but I promise you, folks can make a lot more potentially with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree,” Obama said.

“Nothing wrong with art history degree,” he added. “I love art history. I don’t want to get a bunch of emails from everybody. I’m just saying, you can make a really good living and have a great career without getting a four-year college education, as long as you get the skills and training that you need.”

Speaking in chilly Waukesha, where the temperature hovered around 25 degrees, Obama also couldn’t help but make a weather joke. “At the State of the Union, I wanted to say the State of the Union is cold, but I decided that wasn’t entirely appropriate,” he said.